Witten source of advice

Updated 11:50 pm, Saturday, August 9, 2014

Tight end Jason Witten (82), talking to QB Brandon Weeden (3), relishes the chance to lead a young roster.

Tight end Jason Witten (82), talking to QB Brandon Weeden (3), relishes the chance to lead a young roster.

Photo: LM Otero / Associated Press

Witten source of advice

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OXNARD, Calif. — Jason Witten gets the same old questions at the start of training camp ever since offering his hauntingly prophetic line two years ago that it couldn't be the “same old story” for the playoff-starved Dallas Cowboys.

The nine-time Pro Bowl tight end's phrase caught on because of his role as a leader and because it's been the same ending three years running, with the Cowboys losing to an NFC East foe with a trip to the postseason on the line.

Witten's answers are just a little bit different this time, though. An increasingly younger roster has the franchise leader in catches more aware than ever of the weight of his words and actions.

“The team's gotten young in a hurry,” Witten said recently at training camp in California. “I don't know that it changes (anything) other than leadership's more vital now that it's ever been. To be able to show those guys the way, it's important. It's a big part of this game.”

Witten's reasoning? Dallas isn't adding young players in backup roles. Three offensive linemen — all first-round picks — will be 23 when the season starts. Others who aren't even 25 figure to be counted on in the much-maligned defense.

“I'm not so sure I have ever been around a guy who is a better leader for this team than Witten is,” said Garrett, a backup quarterback on Dallas' Super Bowl-winning teams in the 1990s. “You think about some of the teams we had in the '90s, there was leadership that was out there, outspoken, loud. And there was leadership that didn't say a word. Leadership is about influencing a group of people that you're close to. Witten has done that.”

With the retirement of Tony Gonzalez, the 32-year-old Witten goes into his 12th season as the league's active leader among tight ends in catches (879) and yards (9,799). Witten has missed one game in 11 years, most notably returning 23 days after rupturing his spleen in a preseason game so he could play in the 2012 opener vs. the Giants.

“He's a marvel,” owner Jerry Jones said. “And really, he's a special guy. He's certainly in the top five player/person that's on any level of the NFL that I've been associated with in my 25 years in the NFL. Period.”